Senior Engineer Circular Economy and Renewable Materials
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SIRRIS – Department of Circular Economy and Renewable Materials – Smart Coating Application Lab
Dr. ir. Pieter Samyn graduated in 2001 at Ghent University (Belgium) and received Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2007 from Ghent University presenting his research on polymer tribology. He followed an academic career from 2000 to 2020 at Universities of Ghent, Freiburg, Toronto and Hasselt having different positions of assistant professor and visiting professor. In 2021, he joined the collective research centre Sirris, a collective industrial research institute, as a Senior Researcher in Circular Economy and Renewable Materials. His work focusses on technical valorization of biomaterials as building blocks including binders and fillers for functional biocomposites and coatings. He led research projects on bio-inspired adhesion mechanisms, protective coatings for papers, nanocellulose production and application, biopolymer processing, advanced analytics and processing of nanocomposites. His work was awarded with several distinctions including the Robert-Bosch Juniorprofessorship, Baden-Wurttemberg Juniorprofessorenprogramm, Heinz-Maier Leibnitz Preis and FRIAS Fellowship. Currently, he assists companies in the implementation of bio-based polymer coatings and paints for industrial applications. In particular, he is involved in the development of bio-based coatings for control of barrier properties and recyclability of coated papers.